Why not just bumpstop? You can stuff a 35" tire into the rear fenderwell on an XJ with VERY minimal sheetmetal trimming.

that much bumpstop makes for a very hard ride, and ZERO upwards flex. so, bumpstops are a terrible solution. this gives flex, and larger tire size.

cut the pinch welds off. then cut the wheel well up. then fold the wheel well over and reweld it.

you can't roll the metal, it won't roll without several cuts, and is ALOT harder to do since you have two layers that go two seperate directions to fold then, and several cuts.

i had a plasma cutter too so that made it easier. the raised portion is up by something like 3" on top as compared to what it used to be. this would be perfect with 33's and full width axles with 3.5" of backspacing. you'd have the flex of a 6 or 7" lift with 33" tires and zero lift.

this does allow for ALOT of movement, and I think is a great mod.

aci4369 wrote:

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Hmmm.  You have to have a welder to do this though don't ya?  I would assume that is could be done without the plasma cutter.  Man do I want to learn how to weld. 

Adam buy me a welder and I will build stuff for you.... hahaha.

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haha.  zip screws might work as long as you covered the flares :P

no, welder is necessary.

and, i don't know how to weld :P
i just taught myself during the project.  getting better...teaching yourself on sheet metal is a bad idea btw. 

I like this idea, but would still use some sort of bumpstop. Now if you were using a coil over in the rear this would provide plenty of room for flex. Not using proper bumpstops could destroy your leafsprings.

aci4369 wrote:

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So you cut past the pinch welds and then welded it back again?  Why not just cut up towards the roof and then roll the metal up?

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Try it and learn something.  A low COG with big tires and great uptravel is where it's at...

Fast or slow your performance will kick A$$. 

My DD runs 33's with 2 1/2" of lift.  The lift was done to increase up travel. It has 9.5" of shock travel up front and 10" in back. 

Cut fenders with less lift saves build-up money and the problems a high lift can cause.

This was the rear with 5" of lift and 33" tires.  Room for 35"-38" tires easy.



For the front you might not think much can be done....  Think again....

Cut the fender like this.  This is my old XJ Scorpio_Vette has.

Fill the gaps, heat and form the flares fit.  This is my MJ.

Add some inner fender work

And now 33" tires will fit without a lift. 35" tires stuff great and will fit with 3" of lift and 1" of bumpstop.  37"-38" tires will clear with 5"-6" of lift and 2"-3" of bumpstop with the axle moved forward some.  Even better you will still have uptravel. 

The low COG also allows for better handling on and off road.

You should try it.

I have 2 different heights I have raised the flares to.  The first one is milder.




It's a huge difference.

Here are a bunch of picture of flares raise to the body line and above the body line.

There are no gaps they are complete filled and looks good. 

Here are some pictures of the both style flares showing how it is filled.

Raised to the bodyline

Mounted

How the gap was filled

Side views

Raised above the bodyline

Mounted

How the gap was raised

Side views

Comparison 

These should help people understand how I cut and modified stock front flares for tons of clearance..

The flare is raised 5" over stock.
I formed, reshaped, cut and fit a different flare today.  It's just clamped on for right now.  I also cut the fender some more.
Here are some pics.

Side view

Fit at front body line

Fit at rear bodyline and filled gap

Tire coverage with 33x10.50-15 on 15x7 rims with 4" of backspacing

Another view showing the 11" of clearance over the 33" tire with 6" of lift


I cut the front of the inner fender for a dramatic increase in room. 
My goal is to get as much uptravel as possible as part of my build.
I still need to do some more welding, then clean up and paint it.

Here is a picture looking straight down from under the hood.

 

Here is a picture the inner fender.  I gained 5" or more of clearance.

The difference is dramatic.

There is now more room in front the tire then from the rear or above.  I should be able to stuff the tire about 3" more and still be able to turn from lock to lock.  As part of the build the front HP D44 I'm building will be moved forward 1"-2".

I still need to rework the remove the rust, paint the fender, mount the flare and make a inner fender liner.

The flares are cut with a dremel and reformed with a heat gun.  They are bolted with 1/4" bolts and washers.  Where needed an 1/8" thick rubber washers are used to fill the gap between the mounting tab and the fender.

If you have any other questions just ask.